Interplay between misfit strain relief and Stranski–Krastanov growth in fcc (111)/bcc (110) ultrathin film epitaxy: Part 2. Quantification using embedded atom method potentials

The main objective of this investigation has been to study the influence of misfit strain (MS) relief on the transition from monolayer-by-monolayer (ML-by-ML) Frank–van der Merwe (FM) to Stranski–Krastanov (SK) growth. The investigation involves (a) selection of appropriate materials [Cu, Pd, Pt on Fe(110)] to hopefully meet the appropriate stability criteria for misfit accommodation and bond strength, and of atomic interaction potentials [embedded atom method (EAM)] needed for quantification, and (b) development of appropriate analytical procedures to facilitate the description and quantification of the relevant parameters. The computations revealed that MS relief by misfit dislocations (MDs), for the selected materials, falls outside the SK transition thickness regime. The investigation has thus been limited to MS relief by a misfit vernier. The main objective of assessing the influence of MS relief on the transition to SK growth has been accomplished by showing that the growth mode discriminants, needed to predict quasi-equilibrium growth mode development, change with MS relief. The computation that culminated in the quantification of growth mode discriminants also yielded as by-product several interesting results of wider application in the field of epitaxy — the dependence on substrate proximity and bond strengths of: interlayer and intralayer relaxation, equilibrium misfit, critical misfit and thickness, substrate coverage change, optimum Fourier coefficients of periodic epilayer–substrate interaction potentials and stability of misfit accommodation and growth modes.